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Simon Nicholas White Talk — Transcript

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0:25good evening Apple St street tday we
0:28have a very special guest joining us in
0:30here to talk about analog Photography in
0:32the digital age joined on stage by Alex
0:35hu Deputy picture editor from the
0:37Scotsman please give a very warm welcome
0:40to Simon Nicholas
0:46white thanks for being here everybody um
0:50we're going to try and do a little tour
0:52about uh some of the work that I've done
0:54over the last few years and thankfully
0:57my my guid mentor Alex a very good
1:00friend very professional man as it's
1:03been mentioned works with the Scotsman
1:05he's a picture so he's the man and he's
1:07going to help me along with this I think
1:09we need to stop saying the Scotsman is
1:11the herald I'm a
1:12Scotsman oh yeah it's the herald maybe
1:15not anyway I uh I basically am a
1:17photographer but I still use film I'm I
1:22mostly use Fuji film because coak of
1:25probably some people know I've gone out
1:26of business now but mostly I use Fuji
1:29and basic basically I these day you know
1:32in this day and age
1:34um basically everyone's trying to tell
1:36me that I should use digital and and I
1:39refuse to go that way there's various
1:41reasons why I haven't done that but uh I
1:44prefer film there's reasons why I do and
1:46I'll explain that as we go along but
1:48anyway we'll begin with some uh images
1:50maybe that's what for and then Alex
1:53afterwards will explain some of the
1:55ideas behind you know how you know the
1:58digital thing can help somebody like me
2:00as well as digital photographers so
2:03could look at some uh pictures and we
2:07got some music for Brian
2:15and Okay the reason why I'm start
2:19there's a couple of images I'm going to
2:20start with today and the reason I'm
2:22starting with these two images it's
2:25because this is kind of Where it All
2:26Began for me personally I I have
2:30background in music and I was involved
2:32in band management and wrs and music and
2:34then I always had a camera ever since I
2:36was 18 um it's a a Canon A1 I got it for
2:41my 18th birthday as I say and I've just
2:43always used it over the years and I used
2:45to photograph people and did some
2:47portfolios it was never something I did
2:49professionally it was just something
2:51that I did
2:53occasionally and then one day I was uh
2:55with a good friend of mine uh on the out
2:58Hees we went to see her mother and had
3:00to drive around and I took my camera out
3:02that day and I was walking on a beach um
3:05in South Harris in actual fact and I saw
3:10this and I'd never seen anything like it
3:12before and I photographed it I CL up on
3:16a rock so I'm looking down on this this
3:17thing and it's on the
3:19beach and didn't think much about it at
3:22the time and then I I moved
3:25on and then I moved on and then I saw
3:29this
3:30and I uh photographed that and didn't
3:33think much else about it and then I
3:34think I left the film in the camera for
3:36about 2 years until I got it
3:39developed and when I developed it there
3:42was pictures of the owna my friends and
3:44the dog and few bits and pieces and then
3:47I looked at these two images and I
3:49thought well personally it blew my mind
3:53and I just sort of realized there's
3:55something else going on you know within
3:58the micro you know the micro of the the
4:01the landscape rather than the bigger
4:03picture the bigger Vista so since then I
4:06continued doing these type of things um
4:10I call them Scottish
4:12naturesque and it's you know it's it's
4:15developed over time and I sort of gone
4:17into doing calendars and cards and I
4:19Supply them to places like the the Burl
4:22in glasma and the you know all these
4:24play Kelvin Grove and the national
4:26galleries of Scotland blah blah blah and
4:29so I've just continued with this really
4:31and it's just been a kind of voyage for
4:32me of Discovery in many ways just
4:35looking at the microcosms within nature
4:38rather than as I say the bigger the
4:40bigger
4:41Vista so yeah it's quite strange to me
4:45looking on the screen actually but this
4:47was an image that I did in five uh to me
4:52I also have a background in sort of
4:53history of Art and things like that and
4:55I always kind of
4:57see various styles of Art in in some of
5:01the pictures so for example this is this
5:04is a for me a suzan it's like a Paul
5:06suzan it's it's very sesanian I don't
5:09know you can say that but uh if you look
5:12into it you begin to see what you want
5:14to see I mean I don't want to tell you
5:16what you want to see but you might see
5:18certain things and but I see a landscape
5:21and I in a kind of arid region maybe in
5:24the south of France somewhere and little
5:27cuses of Woodland and and a icape you
5:30know kind of a fluid Sky there and and
5:34these things just B blow my mind
5:38basically um excuse
5:41me this is an image that was taken on
5:45Aon uh a couple of years ago just a
5:49little bit of
5:56water and again you just see the pure P
6:00abstractions
6:01[Music]
6:02and pure abstractions that are there you
6:06know and you can see whatever you want
6:08to see and you know there the sort of
6:09like expressions of you know they're
6:11decorative or they're abstract or
6:13they're this or they're that but they're
6:15all real things they all exist they're
6:18not manipulated they they're just pure
6:21what is actually out there the kind of
6:23things that people Overlook I suppose
6:26they you know they when you go into a
6:29beautiful land landscape and believe you
6:30me Scotland has that and a massive
6:33diversity of sty you know types of
6:36landscape these are the little things
6:38that you just sometimes don't notice and
6:40then but I've kind of got into the thing
6:42of just focusing on these things and
6:44they're on different scales and the you
6:47know sometimes I'm quite close to in
6:48it's not macro photography I don't have
6:50a macro lens they're mostly taken with a
6:5350 mm
6:56lens and you know I always just remember
7:00this this story when I was a kid you
7:02know I was about 5 years of age and my
7:05parents they weren't particularly you
7:07know they weren't into classical music
7:09or anything like that but we had a copy
7:10of um gustoff Hall's Planet Suite um by
7:14Leopold stos I think it was the Boston
7:16Symphony Orchestra I was about 5 years
7:18of age and I I just became obsessed with
7:21this album and I just played it over and
7:25over and over again and my imagination
7:27just went wild you I was imagining these
7:29planets and and trying to imagine as a
7:33kid you know what they would look like
7:35and and it occurred to me a few year you
7:37know about 3 years ago I think that what
7:39I'm actually trying to do now is find
7:42those places that I tried to imagine you
7:44know they're kind of quite
7:45extraterrestrial in some ways some of
7:48the images they're sort of slightly
7:50otherworldly if you like and I also
7:55suffered from a ridiculous flying phobia
7:58you know I've sort of semi got over it
8:00now I'm I don't think you ever get over
8:02it until you have the next turbulence
8:04but uh you know I managed to get over in
8:07the sense that I went to New York last
8:08year to promote my work and spent 3
8:11months there and I had to get on I got
8:12on the plane by myself my good friend
8:16hel held my hand a little bit uh there
8:18but I I had to do it by myself you know
8:19and various people wanted to come over
8:22with me but I just had to go through it
8:24but I always imagine that I'm able to to
8:27travel um like an astronaut you know I
8:30always call myself a terrestrial
8:32Cosmonaut you know I'm actually sort of
8:34like a cosmonaut looking for weird
8:36worlds but I'm actually able to stay on
8:39the ground you know I'm actually on my
8:41shoes and and it feels very the Terra
8:43firm is very good for me you know but
8:45you know it's space fly without having
8:48to fly in space
8:51basically um that the one previous to
8:54that is also the same as this it's the
8:56island of egg which is you know on the
8:58west coast of Scotland again we're we're
9:00on a beach here
9:03and you know again it's just sort of
9:06mindblowing
9:07and kind of you know your imagination
9:10can run right with this you know and and
9:13see all kinds of things within it and
9:15all it is basically is just some water
9:17moving slowly over a beach but the kind
9:20of grains of sand are a different size I
9:22think and so they make shapes and
9:24there's a kind of a spine going through
9:26it it's known it's known as the spine
9:28this one
9:30um it's funny actually I just sold a
9:32print of this to a guy that had an Oscar
9:35nomination uh little name drop but there
9:37you go quite like that kind of thing um
9:41didn't get the Oscar mind here U margin
9:44Cole is the film anyway moving on and
9:48then yeah we're moving on to you know a
9:49lot of rocks and sand and water and and
9:53now lyen you know so lyan is something I
9:56love and just has its own sort of
9:58abstract form
10:00and and obviously I'm not used to seeing
10:03them on the screen they you know mostly
10:04done for to be produced as prints and
10:07they can be large scale you know we can
10:08do them up I did a I did a whole bunch
10:10of stuff for the World Bank in Scotland
10:12before they they crashed um I actually
10:15got the check uh they bought 12 pieces
10:18uh I think six of them were 2 m big and
10:21six of them were 1 and a half M big and
10:24I got the check just before it all
10:26crashed in in 2008 there are those that
10:29think that I'm responsible for but I can
10:32sure they got a good deal um but they
10:35are they are to be seen larger they are
10:37they are that's the ultimate aim is to
10:39get them on a large scale you
10:42know this is uh common say I this is the
10:46thing about Scotland it's I'm from
10:49yorshire I was conceived in
10:52Manchester and I was born in Leeds uh
10:55I'm a kind of pink rose but I've I've
10:57lived in Scotland for 23 years and I
11:00think I those images at the beginning
11:02that I showed you the ones where it all
11:04started I think I I I think they were
11:05started in I think there was 1996 or
11:08something you know I've lived here 23
11:10years now and so it's it's a continuing
11:13Journey you know and I sort of realized
11:17that ultimately before I die I I I want
11:20to keep doing this I'm not really
11:21interested in
11:22photographing anything other than this
11:24stuff to be honest I mean I might
11:26diversify you know whatever but I don't
11:28think so and I realized that
11:32Scotland's it's mind-blowingly fantastic
11:35and everything but there's 11 and a
11:3612,000 miles of Coastline to get through
11:40and I think maybe so far I've covered
11:44about 200 miles of it maybe you know so
11:47I've got I've got a lot more material to
11:48work work from you know um just
11:53unusual I seen money pip and I don't
11:56know
11:58what a lot of these images will there's
12:01a lot of color I mean that's something I
12:02used to be a black and white
12:04photographer film photographer I used to
12:05have a dark room and I used to love
12:07Printing and uh but I realized that I
12:10was wasting a lot of my life printing
12:12you know if anybody's ever print it you
12:15you can go in the dark room at say 6:00
12:17in the evening and then before you know
12:19it it's like 7:00 a.m. the next morning
12:22and it's like the whole life gets turned
12:24upside down and and so I got to this
12:27point where I discovered color photogra
12:29and obviously this kind of Photography
12:31and I just I just love it ever since you
12:34know the colors the colors within the
12:36the landscape are just absolutely
12:38amazing it's it often depends on
12:41lighting how the sky is lit and whether
12:44it's just rain or you know the time of
12:46day the colors are just out there you
12:50know um now this one I'm I'm not a
12:54religious person but I I almost have
12:56kind of uh I hear sort of rning off wers
12:59or something like that you know I I hear
13:01Coral music I there's something very
13:04Heavenly about this one it's it's just a
13:08Heavenly thing you know I expect God to
13:11kind of you know Terry Gill done the
13:13animation God just floats over there or
13:15something like that um there's a lot of
13:18movement and um yeah it's just out there
13:22people say that
13:24doome another image of
13:28rocks and
13:30um I think that the icons you know I've
13:32never I've never titled my work anything
13:35other than the place that they're
13:36they're done in you know I mean for
13:39example I think this one was in East
13:40loogan somewhere um forgotten right now
13:43to be honest but uh I I only title them
13:46you know for example it would be C Cliff
13:48e Logan or whatever I never want to call
13:53them anything I don't want to tell
13:55anybody what I see uh I want people to
13:58inter at what they want to see cuz very
14:00often people can say to me you know I
14:04see this I see that I you know people
14:07often see faces people see animals
14:10people see all sorts of naughty things
14:12you know there's all sorts of things
14:15going on in there but I oh there's a
14:17black line in there that was an
14:19abstraction um that was actually in the
14:21picture but um so I I kind of want
14:24people to interpret them the way they
14:27see them and it was there was a funny
14:30story many years ago the image is in
14:32here I'll maybe tell that story when I
14:34come across to that image but
14:37uh again we're back out in
14:39space and these are just very simple
14:41things that are around you and and there
14:45was another there was another couple
14:46that I sold some work to and they lived
14:48in this place called daart in in five
14:51and they walk their dog every day on
14:53this speech and uh and then they saw my
14:56portfolio and I had a whole bunch of
14:58images from daar and they were they just
15:02couldn't believe that this stuff existed
15:04on their beach the beach that they go to
15:06every day of their lives they were an
15:07older coule and they just never saw it
15:10they never looked but from that point
15:12onwards they began to see it and and
15:14enjoyed it in the same way that I do you
15:17know there's another nice decorative
15:22abstraction like him
15:30again I don't know if you were Al in
15:32Wonderland or something like that um and
15:34you came across that you wouldn't feel
15:36like anything extraordinary was
15:37happening it's just there's something
15:39very unusual about that image there's
15:41almost a diagonal going through it and I
15:43can't to this day I can't figure out
15:45what's even though I took it I can't
15:47remember how that works I mean I I know
15:49where I took it so I can go back to it
15:52and have a look at it again but it'll
15:54never look the same and I'd never be
15:56able to take take the same image again
15:59um it's just it's a one-off situation
16:02and that that sort of is one of the
16:03things about the digital versus analog
16:06thing I
16:07suppose
16:08um I personally I don't like the
16:12immediacy that digital has I mean I
16:14don't like the fact that I can take a
16:15photograph I've never done it so I
16:18actually own what do I own is it a
16:22Nikon
16:24D200 somebody gave me a New York last
16:26year they upgraded and they really want
16:29to get into digital and I've not I've
16:30only used it for one image really but
16:33what I love is that when when you take a
16:35picture with a fil on a film camera it's
16:38a latent image you don't know whether
16:40you've got it or you haven't you don't
16:41know what you've got and you you have it
16:44develops you you look at the the you
16:46know the slides that ultimately come
16:48from these and and the scans cuz you can
16:51all also have scans done and and it's
16:54just an exciting moment it's like it's
16:56it's Christmas it's it's like opening a
16:58present and not knowing what's in it and
17:01you have an idea what you've done but
17:03you don't know if you pulled it off and
17:04sometimes it can be better than than you
17:06imagine and sometimes it can be worse
17:09you know it didn't quite pull it off and
17:11I usually only give myself one chance I
17:13don't know why but I people say you
17:14should bracket you should do this and
17:16that you know different exposures I
17:18don't do it I trust my camera absolutely
17:22and it never lets me down and it's it's
17:25got a great light beater in it and I can
17:27judge what I need it to be you know I
17:29can just just by intuition I can judge
17:31and I just gave myself one shot to it
17:33which can be frustrating if you having
17:35say for example used a tripod and you
17:37had a little bit of camera shake or and
17:39you you traveled 200 miles to go and get
17:41that shot and didn't quite get it right
17:43and think but then it wasn't meant to be
17:46in my opinion you know that's that's
17:47sort of that's the way I look at it you
17:49know
17:52so again you know we got all sorts of
17:55creatures going on here there the the
17:58little little carrot next to Alex there
18:00in the corner is uh I wouldn't like to
18:03meet him on a dark uh Street on a dark
18:05night I'll tell you but it could be fun
18:07might not be but it' freak me out
18:09there's all sorts of things you can see
18:13and as I said before I don't I don't
18:15want to tell anybody what they see they
18:19have to win
18:22it sometimes I like to take pictures
18:24that are kind of more Z like there very
18:28it's some ways there's not a lot
18:29happening in that but in another way as
18:31far as I'm concerned there's a lot
18:32happening but it has a sort of Zen feel
18:34about it it's just minimal there not a
18:37lot but the colors lovely the patterns
18:39are lovely it's it's it's you know I was
18:42told in when I you know as I mentioned
18:44before I was in New York for quite a lot
18:46of last year doing all the Galleries and
18:49talking to lots of people and all the
18:51rest of it and apparently like in
18:54Britain we if if we describe something
18:57as as nice oh it's a nice picture or
19:00it's a nice this or it's a nice you know
19:02it's it's kind of slightly derogatory in
19:04a way it's sort
19:06of in in in America it seems the word is
19:09decorative if something's decorative
19:12it's it's like our nice you know and I
19:15think decorative is good I think uh
19:18decorative is a winner if you put
19:20something decorative on your wall then
19:23it's it can look good you
19:26know um just I don't know it's almost
19:31sculptural
19:32uh I better haveen just
19:35sculptural it's got a sculptural feeling
19:38about it that one you know it's sort
19:41of again very simple that piece of White
19:45Rock on the top of somehow slipped off
19:48the lower part just slipped away and I'm
19:51sort of looking down on that trying to
19:52you know very often I have to climb up
19:54rocks and hang on and I've almost broken
19:57my neck many many times
19:59million cat sles have gone by by me I'll
20:02tell you my father died millions of
20:04times you know broken a lot of livs but
20:07it's never happened here touchwood
20:10so back in the Fantastic on the
20:14Fantastic a EG here I mean the is is one
20:16of the most stunning Islands ho the
20:19islands in Scotland I know way and I
20:21know by a lot of them now there many I
20:23don't know actually but um that place
20:26just continues to give
20:29and it's funny I met a a photographer
20:32from the National
20:33Geographic he he was working for them he
20:35must have been he had books he was
20:37published the rest of it and we got
20:39talking and I told him about this place
20:41uh I said you got to you know it's my
20:44little it's not a secret but I I like
20:45telling people about beautiful places
20:48and he says oh I'll go and check it out
20:49and anyway didn't see him and then the
20:51next day I met up with him again and uh
20:53I said did you find the place and he
20:55said uh yeah I did and I can't I kind of
20:58call it the the land of time forgot you
21:01know it's this really bizarre place um
21:04on just off a beach called L Beach on in
21:06the north part of egg it's only a small
21:08island and he came back to me I said did
21:11you did you get many great pictures what
21:12did you think and he says I couldn't see
21:14anything I didn't I didn't I didn't see
21:16anything there there was nothing for me
21:18to photograph I don't I don't know what
21:20you were talking about you know and then
21:21I went into the book shop and they were
21:23actually selling his book it was a
21:25reputable publisher and I looked through
21:28images and then I realized why he
21:30haven't seen it you know cuz he sees he
21:33sees a fence that's buried in sand and
21:36then it's quite for me quite pedestrian
21:40type I'm not being derog when I say that
21:42but it's beautiful images but just
21:44obvious images you know he just couldn't
21:46see the hidden he just didn't see the he
21:50just didn't see it and I was I was
21:51amazed I was I was ABS
21:54staggered that's just an odd one really
21:57um it's most of my stuff is Coastal in
22:01in fact I would say about 99% of it but
22:04occasionally I go in land and go into
22:06rivers and this was just a A really
22:08lovely rock that was poking out of a
22:10river it was some really difficult image
22:13to to try and get you know to try and
22:16get it in you know I've allowed the de
22:18field to bleed away a bit and things
22:20like that I like using those sort of
22:21ideas you
22:25know this is um
22:29very unusual this is a place near tus
22:31nuclear power station actually I often
22:33wonder there I've got another one of a
22:35rock pool which will most people think
22:37it's fotter shocked or whatever but it
22:39isn't it's purely what was actually
22:41happening but I do wonder whether some
22:42of the influence of the the power
22:45station the nuclear power station uh
22:48plays some tricks here you know color
22:52wise aha there's the rck pool now have
22:55you ever seen a rck pool that looks like
22:57that and
22:59the sort of beautiful pastels and that's
23:02a rock
23:03pool uh I don't know it's
23:06extraordinary colors I mean there's so
23:08many different colors in
23:10there never saw a rock B like that
23:13before anyway there's no unfortunately
23:14there was no crab in it or maybe I
23:17Photoshopped it out who knows but I
23:19didn't I don't touch
23:22them that is egg and there's a lot of
23:25egg likee things on egg egg is full of
23:27egg eggy things and there's lots of
23:29balls and domes and discs and it's a
23:33very sexual Island actually in that
23:35sense it's
23:36uh just and eventually that little ball
23:39will just fall out as a sort of a cliff
23:42face actually you know that one
23:45[Music]
23:47perspective that's not one of my
23:50favorites um right this is
23:53um I always call this the heart of East
23:56loan for obvious reasons
23:59it's it's got a bit of a hard thing
24:00going on
24:02um it's it also reminds me a little bit
24:05of an oyster I hate eat oysters you know
24:09I love Seafood but oysters and that
24:12unless they sort of done anyway
24:15my um a very early image one of my
24:19earliest images it's one of the ones I
24:21continue to like you know to this day
24:22and I still get new things out of them
24:24and it's funny cuz I've just signed a
24:26license deal with a gallery in New York
24:27and unfortunately I can I can no longer
24:30sell that image I can I own it and I can
24:32put it in a book or I can s my postcards
24:35or I my postcards my greeking cards but
24:37it's no longer mine to sell it's weird
24:41I've sort of licensed quite a few images
24:43out to
24:44them um this is in five five is a
24:49fantastic place for this kind of you
24:52know the photography I
24:54enjoy and also the I suppose the other
24:56thing is is uh I might do I that over
24:59there it's weird um I never really like
25:03to tell people a scale of things as well
25:05because I I like people to kind of try
25:07and work that out for themselves and as
25:10I said before most of my images are done
25:12with u a 50
25:14mm lens but occasionally I use a wide
25:18angle I got this
25:20smashing uh subina 2 5 to 50 um lens
25:25it's been with me for years and it's
25:27been reliable it's been being great you
25:29know it works but I occasionally use
25:32that this
25:33one this is in Edinburgh actually it's
25:36the only Edinburgh image I have um it's
25:40water of
25:41leaf and I nickname it ailia and there's
25:44a funny story behind this one because I
25:46remember many years ago I I had a lady
25:49she was a psychologist and she she
25:53wanted to buy some work for me and she
25:55chose this she chose two images and she
25:57bought this one and one and I went to
25:59meet
26:00her and uh she was asking me about it
26:03and she said you know what asking me
26:06questions about it and I told her you
26:08know I SW Lea and this the other and
26:10then she said what what do you see and I
26:13so I told her I uh I said I said I I
26:16call it
26:17ailia and I imagine that ailia if you
26:20know the tale you know she's she drowns
26:23and she's going to float across screen
26:25or she's just floated off screen she's
26:27she's going there but she's not in the
26:29image itself and then she pulled the she
26:32pulled the sail on me she she I
26:34destroyed I destroyed the image for her
26:37she just couldn't see anything other
26:39than that so she just said I'm sorry I
26:41can't buy that now so I lost the sale so
26:44My Philosophy is keep my mouth shut you
26:47know just just see what you want to see
26:49I mean other people see somebody said
26:51they saw a wsh a Welsh valy in the night
26:54time looking down I I didn't quite get
26:57that one but
26:58maybe with the right intoxications you
27:00know few guinnesses or something I could
27:02could get there you know who
27:05knows
27:07um again we're getting these this is
27:11this amazing Place dinar which is just a
27:13little fishing Village you know uh F has
27:15quite a lot of those uh running you know
27:18along its
27:20Coastline but it does unusual things
27:23it's it's quite it's quite ex
27:25extraterrestrial as I mentioned before
27:27it's you
27:29can who these drugs right I mean for me
27:32that's who I look at it he just mind can
27:34go away you can imagine you're on
27:36another planet in another time and we
27:39all live on the Star Trek you
27:42know um oh a little smile from Alex
27:45there I
27:46I it just shows that you know Alex and I
27:49are good friends and that but when when
27:51we first got to know each other Alex
27:52actually vought this one for me so I I
27:54was very proud at the time that the you
27:55know picture I show the Scotsman vot one
27:57my prince it was it was quite a big deal
27:59for me I was I was quite flattered at
28:01the time you know I'm still looking for
28:04a little bit of wildli in there amongst
28:06the Duds oh yeah of course well
28:09something something's been you probably
28:10noticed that million times but something
28:12something's been over that little
28:13preacher it's probably a bird there some
28:15tracks all the way through it it's quite
28:18but this is this is extraordinary and
28:20this is a this is this is another reason
28:22why I can never get bored of this
28:24because I've been back to this place to
28:26try and reoc photograph it maybe do
28:29something different with it or but it's
28:30never being the same again it's the red
28:32rock is there but the sand patterns have
28:35never come back they and and that is
28:38also what I love about this it's it's so
28:41transitory that's why coastlines are so
28:44amazing it's just they're just always in
28:47movement there's two TI you know each
28:49day two TI the Sea comes in and out it
28:51changes everything erosion you know I
28:54found I found extraordinary things and
28:56then I go back to them a year later and
28:57the gone or and the opposite is you know
29:01vice versa I go to a place and I didn't
29:03find anything last time and then
29:04suddenly wow you know um just never
29:08ceases to amaz
29:10me okay there aren't quite a lot of my
29:13images kids around they quite
29:17sexual I see it other people see it
29:20women see it men see it and that's quite
29:23a sexual one now Do Your Own Thing with
29:26that I'm not going to say anything but I
29:28don't you maybe you can see what I'm
29:30getting
29:32at audience of Virgin you need a laser
29:37poter oh
29:41yeah um again this is like a minimal one
29:44I'm I'm my my daughter when my daughter
29:47went to college she she went through all
29:49my images I said I want you I want you
29:50to have an image from me and to put on
29:52your wall at College you know she's
29:53going she's doing
29:55choreography uh she's actually doing
29:57more film Mak making a music now but
29:59she's supposed to be the choreography
30:01anyway uh this is the one she chose and
30:03so I always think of her when
30:06I a little I I just think of her when I
30:10don't know why she doesn't look anything
30:12like that but there you go it's on her
30:15W so this is we're back out in the Hees
30:19now and this is Louis if I remember
30:21right there somewhere on Le West Lewis I
30:23think and these are the kind of images
30:26this is probably a wide angle image but
30:28these are the kind of IM that you need
30:30to see these two meters you know GPL
30:33prints that I do you know and they need
30:35to be on a big scale you know but
30:37there's something
30:39epic and it's just something epic going
30:42on there you know I don't know and it's
30:44all nature and I I I often say that I'm
30:47not I'm really not a photographer in
30:49many ways I'm I'm a I'm a conduit it
30:52sounds a bit contentious but it's kind
30:54of how I see it uh but I'm just you know
30:58I didn't create that I mean maybe I know
31:00I actually saw some work of a guy that
31:01does amazing artwork on beaches recently
31:03actually I posted that on my Facebook
31:05but um you know it's amazing what he
31:08does but this is nature doing its thing
31:12the greatest artist there's not not
31:14anything that can surpass nature in my
31:16opinion you can you can take your botet
31:18shellies and you know they're beautiful
31:21as well but nature is the greatest
31:23artist and it's always inspiring never
31:28stops and I just happen to see it and
31:31maybe I you know I frame I frame it and
31:35get the angle on it and choose the right
31:37light or whatever but it's all out
31:40there I kind of a lot of people say that
31:43uh particularly the kind of prints I do
31:45I I do gfl prints and it's kind of
31:48cotton paper and they use quite widely
31:51now but
31:53um they kind of a lot of people say to
31:56me they're very painly you know there's
31:58a lot of painty painty feeling going on
32:00painting is the expression and uh you
32:03know obviously I'm going to go it's sort
32:05of in a way a van go this one you know
32:07if you look at the star star night thing
32:10going know the twills and seen a bit of
32:12Van go in you know like
32:16um again is uh a rock scape
32:23[Applause]
32:27Tell me story about this one um I did an
32:30exhibition down in the borders some
32:32years ago and there was a place I was
32:35doing was the the art center of pebles
32:37and there was a group of people uh they
32:40all had sort of learning disabilities or
32:43there was some people with like some
32:45mental health issues and you know I
32:48never actually met them but um but they
32:50worked one day a week in the the
32:52exhibition space and with the images all
32:55around the the walls they decid decided
32:58um that they were going to do a kind of
33:00a project on they all chose a picture
33:03each basically and then the person who
33:05was running the group got in touch with
33:06me and said look cuz I was going to take
33:08the exhibition down and she asked me if
33:11she could if I if I could keep it up
33:13another a week or so so they could
33:15finish their projects and there was a
33:17lady um a journalist friend of mine uh
33:20said that we had to do a story about it
33:22but I I was a bit embarrassed about that
33:24at the time um and there was a lady that
33:26hadn't talked her something she actually
33:29hadn't spoken about it for 10 years or
33:31something I don't know it's quite
33:33ridiculous she hadn't said a word to
33:34anyone there was some issues there you
33:37know I don't know she could physically
33:38talk I think but she hadn't and she
33:41chose this one as her I don't know how
33:43she just used to stand in front of it
33:45apparently just looking at it nonstop
33:47you know just just standing slightly
33:49swaying apparently if I remember rightly
33:52and
33:53uh and she that's what she did she just
33:56went and stood in front of it and and
33:59and then one day so the story goes and
34:01it's this is this is this actually
34:03happened she just she spoke and she she
34:07just said the great Stone just that was
34:10her ly she had the spell for 10 years or
34:12something she just said the great Stone
34:15so they rang me about this and and and
34:18then my friend Claire at the Scotsman
34:20Claire Smith she she said come on we got
34:22to do a story this is you know she was
34:25taking the The Mickey out of me you know
34:27but she sort of said I can't believe it
34:28your pitches heal people uh which I I
34:32was very flattened about but you know
34:33she actually spoke and so fny story but
34:38again extraterrestrial you know it's
34:40kind of over
34:46worldly this is just a lovely
34:48silky silky silky it's not coming out on
34:52the screen actually but what one thing I
34:54love about the wrong animal but uh it's
34:58kind of gold at the bottom and silver at
35:00the top it's not really showing that on
35:01the screen but your eye can just follow
35:05things and be
35:06soothed by
35:09that
35:11that's that's what a a good orgasm looks
35:15like you know if you could visualize it
35:18I think afterwards you know that moment
35:23anyway nice colors some nice turquoises
35:28the amazing island of egg again I
35:31photograph egg quite a lot actually I've
35:32been there many many many times
35:34fantastic
35:35Community it's a good good place to go
35:38it's a I recommend
35:43it a friend of mine um friend of mine
35:47told me that I there some of my images
35:49that uh she calls them my meat series
35:52and this is one of the meat series I I I
35:55actually don't eat meat haven't done for
35:5732 years or something I don't know um
36:01but there's something almost a little
36:04bit slippery and awesome not awesome I
36:06sort of spooky about that in a way uh
36:10but again it's all out
36:13there all right well I think we're
36:15coming sort of towards the end
36:17uh and these these Andy you know behind
36:22all of this um I told him I'd have some
36:24new images so these are these are
36:26absolutely brand new fresh
36:28images that were taken about uh two
36:30weeks ago and I said that I'd try and
36:33get some of them in um look at the
36:36colors and if anybody tell you know I
36:38mean there's you know sometimes people
36:40look at images and they kind of go oh
36:42you know you've done Photoshop I mean I
36:44I don't this is partly what Alex will
36:46get on to quite soon I I don't use
36:49computers I yes I don't have an
36:53apple I'm going to get one actually I'm
36:56I'm getting tempted I'm hearing all
36:57about it it's Alex is going to persuade
37:01me in a minute so
37:07uh again very
37:09Zen very simple I try to avoid
37:12Pebbles get a lot of pictures of Pebbles
37:14particularly in Ikea it's uh nice simple
37:17Pebbles with with a nice frost on the
37:19beach this is before we we had summer
37:22like a week ago you
37:25know all right we're back to an all one
37:28now the sexual pictures I mentioned
37:31before
37:33anybody
37:40oops I like it you got carried
37:44away that wasn't Mentor that
37:49was got tissue um yeah I I was I was
37:54asked you you did this call it I I call
37:57into in Tibet and things like that I
37:59think he organized this Tibetan charity
38:01event and there was performers and this
38:04and the other and I was asked to show
38:05some images and there was quite a lot of
38:07people there and I was at the back of
38:10the room projecting in old school you
38:12know like through a slide projector and
38:15then this image came up and there was
38:16four women in the in the front uh row
38:19and they all started
38:21gigling and yeah you can see where I'm
38:24going with this you saw where I was
38:26coming with that but anyway that's
38:28another
38:30um yeah now this this is Scotland and
38:35you could be in Arizona you could be you
38:37know this is what this is what amazes me
38:39about this country I mean not only it's
38:41people and everything and it's place
38:44where my daughter's grown up and
38:45everything but these Landscapes exist
38:49here and you don't need to travel all
38:51the way to Arizona or all these other
38:54places I mean I'd like to do that as
38:55well but you just can't can't believe
38:57that this exists here and it does it's
39:00it's it's
39:01all okay this is
39:04a this is yeah this is just
39:08mental it's quite
39:11extraordinary I thought we're almost to
39:13the end there but uh where we're up with
39:17this i' I've actually never printed this
39:19well there's quite a few I've never
39:20printed up actually but I'm really
39:22looking forward to seeing this one on a
39:24large scale it's um something going on
39:27there I don't know
39:31what now look at those pcks this is like
39:34Rasberry Ripple and the thing I like
39:37about this one is the the in the lower
39:40part the those kind of green things
39:43going on it's just what is going on
39:45there it's it's it's just
39:49extraordinary this is on the East Coast
39:52uh we're thinking the Scottish borders
39:58beautiful island of EG again I'm really
40:00pling at G but it's it's it's an
40:03extraordinary extraordinary place of
40:06extraordinary
40:07people um and it's in you know it's like
40:11you know they did the buyout and
40:12everything and the whole thing about egg
40:14is just great and the fact that there
40:16there's great sort of you know rock
40:19Scapes and all the rest of it there is
40:22just adds to
40:23it this isn't this isn't there anymore
40:26it's it's it's eroding away but it's
40:29very Martian it's very you know it's
40:32gone now it's it's just not there
40:34anymore it's I mean the rock is there
40:37but it's all gone so I was I was luy to
40:40capture it at that
40:41point so an early one this is arroo
40:47um it's very
40:50Cosmic trying to move this along a we
40:52bit now always reminds me of a sort
40:55of shark eye very close up you wouldn't
40:59want to meet that but it's just what I
41:02see but it's just a nice shape simp
41:13colors yeah I mean it's funny I'm doing
41:15a lot of talking here actually but I I
41:18always I'm trying I'm sort of being
41:20asked to do a a book proposal of a
41:22Scottish publishing company and uh and
41:25part of that is you know what what's it
41:27going to be about you know the images
41:30and I actually just want to tell them
41:31that I just want a book of images with
41:33no words no nothing just bada you know
41:38maybe you get could work something out
41:39with briano and you did a little CD that
41:42you could put on as you look through it
41:43you know I don't know
41:48um this is one of the ones from last
41:50week
41:55uh C uh Frank callings for a
42:00jellyfish see a
42:04jellyfish and then you get
42:07these Sandstone that's another thing as
42:10well that I you know I've met geology
42:13I've done stuff with the the British GE
42:15Geological Survey you know I've been on
42:17their magazine covers and all the rest
42:19of it and I sell my stuff to them uh but
42:22I try not to see it in a geological way
42:24I I just try and avoid you know I I I
42:27met a lot of geologists on iser I think
42:29it was or Colin say I can't remember
42:32exactly and they were all there was five
42:33of them and four of them were trying to
42:35work out what it all was and and then
42:37the one person it was also a geologist
42:40she it was a she there was four guys and
42:42one one woman and she maybe because she
42:45was female she she moved out of the
42:47science side of it and she saw the art
42:50side of it you know she kind of looked
42:52into it in that kind of
42:54way this is some close-ups of that kind
42:58of
43:00rock it's quite funny cuz I'm not really
43:02seen these myself so I'm just looking at
43:03them for the first time
43:07really that was a bit bleached out
43:13but I just I you know I look forward to
43:15seeing these like I think I might have
43:18the commission for the uh the new well
43:21the new extansion that's going on at the
43:23International Conference Center in
43:24Edinburgh and I think they'll one big
43:26scale things and so it'll be another
43:28chance another excuse to get big ones
43:30done up you know so I think that might
43:33be it I think uh that's the final one so
43:37push through those does one how does one
43:41switch
43:44off the background
43:48picture have my favorite up
43:51scen yeah anyway
43:54so the interesting thing we assignment
43:56is that he just as long as I'm knowing
43:59him he's not had any concept of
44:03computers or digital photography at all
44:06I met him after been at the Scotsman for
44:08about four years and he came in just
44:10full of life and his pictures were just
44:13stood apart you could interpret anything
44:15you wanted from them and I'd been
44:17immersed in sort of three or four years
44:19of the learning curve of digital
44:21photography and in comes Simon with all
44:23his Boundless Energy kind of going hey
44:26look at all my pictures and they were of
44:29nothing and yet of everything you know
44:31if you look at them it's entirely up to
44:32you what you interpret from the pictures
44:35and I think that's one of the beautiful
44:37things about Simon's art is that you
44:39can't tie them down to anything you know
44:42you can look at a moment and see it
44:44completely differently to the person
44:46next to you might see it and as we' as
44:50he's shown us with his images I think
44:53you know even though he's concentrating
44:55just on the Scottish Coast there so so
44:57many little things that people Miss like
44:59his story about the couple that had
45:01lived by this beach their whole life and
45:03you know they'd never seen the pictures
45:04that Simon took but when um I was trying
45:08to think about my angle for the talk and
45:11and I was kind of getting some
45:13background in Simon Simon was one of
45:15these people that when we all started
45:17using computers regularly he was worried
45:20that we might catch a virus from the
45:21computer cuz you know everyone talks
45:23about computer viruses so it was sort of
45:27where does Simon take it from here and
45:30you
45:30know his prints are just amazing but in
45:35order to sell them to people you need to
45:37have some way of displaying them to
45:39people and you need to be able to show
45:41them off in a way and so he's got a good
45:45a good printer but it was about getting
45:46Simon to the stage where he can actually
45:49put his pictures onto onto computers and
45:53iPads and let people see them properly
45:55so and I think I think Apple products
45:57doing really well because they can you
45:59know you the colors really come out and
46:01you can really get a sense of the
46:04pictures we're not all lucky enough to
46:06have them on our walls but hopefully
46:08you'll pick up a few from
46:12here I don't know where to go
46:16next I mean regarding the regarding the
46:21the computer thing
46:23um yeah I've been I've been a bit of a
46:25ly to be honest and I I I've got to say
46:28I I I I took some images and my friend a
46:32friend of mine in Edinburgh she she's a
46:33journalist I mentioned her before and
46:35she has a a Big Mac you know and I was
46:37just I have this computer from my friend
46:38go to me it should be in a museum to be
46:41honest it's an old sheber ways about
46:43half a half a ton it's got great sound
46:46system but I I've been looking at the
46:48images on my computer and I suddenly
46:50looked at them on on on this map you
46:52know I I'm I'm I'm bu into it I'll be
46:55honest I'm I I didn't think I was going
46:57to say that but I I think that they
46:59could really help me in expand the way I
47:04you know I show you know you talked
47:05about display and all that kind of thing
47:08and it's something I've never considered
47:10before you know it's just you know you
47:12you say for example I went to New York
47:14and I was lugging a big portfolio around
47:16with me and I think they found that
47:18quite Charming you know that I carried
47:20it and taken it on the plane and
47:21everything but do you know what if I got
47:24something like that and I could just and
47:26the imag is looking pretty good and
47:27quite how I want it to look you know
47:30maybe have some print images as well but
47:33I think it's something that can help me
47:36and I'm I'm on the verge I'm I'm almost
47:39going to give in but not not I'm not
47:41going to change my you I'm still going
47:43to work with film although it's funny I
47:45was I was in edur yesterday and um I was
47:48on a place called sham place and there's
47:50a there actually a Jessup set which does
47:53camera gear and whatnot and I popped in
47:54just to look at the the cost film you
47:57know I just want to check that they're
47:58still doing film cuz kod of chrome
48:00recently was discontinued as a I never
48:03used Kodak Chrome but it's another film
48:05that's gone down from a big company and
48:07I just thought what's going to happen
48:09when Fuji goes down you know and uh I
48:11went in and one film now when I last
48:15bought my last batch which which is
48:16still in the fridge but I'm running down
48:18and like so I need to buy a load more
48:20one film it's £15 now and that's
48:25slightly scary and you know and for a
48:27film and and I was actually getting
48:28three films
48:29for10 when I last bought a film so you
48:33know these arguments that people Alex
48:35has always backed me actually on the
48:37sticking the film you know I mean
48:39everybody else is saying you're crazy
48:40you should do digital you should be
48:42digitize you know whatever and I just go
48:45no you know you know you should you
48:47should but Alex is the only person
48:48really I think the film process for you
48:50is part of how you create images though
48:53like you say I mean you know probably
48:54people would like to know how do you
48:56choose the the moment when you've chosen
48:59a location how do you choose the
49:02composure and how do you know what
49:03you're going to get back from it but
49:05like you've said already you don't
49:07really know what you're going to get
49:08back situation just and these days
49:11there's so many hundreds of millions of
49:13pictures taken every day which are taken
49:15and then discarded and then I think with
49:17Simon it's you take them and you
49:19treasure them and then is getting
49:21something back from them which is part
49:23of the joy of it it's was it's all joy
49:25it's uh I mean I mean you you take these
49:28images and uh like I said before you
49:31don't know what you've got and it's it's
49:33just a big big surprise when you finally
49:35get them back you know you might wait a
49:37couple of months but you it's just such
49:39a whereas you know that immediacy thing
49:41is just I don't think that's fun I don't
49:45you know and you and also you're
49:47enjoying the landscape you're
49:49actually it sounds a bit I want this to
49:51sound pretentious but it becomes
49:53spiritual in a way it's like you know
49:55you can go to a place you're not seeing
49:57anything initially and it's almost like
49:59something says to you okay you can come
50:01in now and you go into this world and it
50:04usually lasts about a couple of hours
50:07and then it fades away and it just goes
50:10and you can't see anything anymore and
50:11it's just like this invitation in and if
50:14you're in a special
50:16place and you're you've got a computer
50:19in your hand effect in which which a
50:21digital camera is and you're you're
50:23having to you're looking at the image
50:25again and
50:27oh no I don't like that one I'll oh I
50:30don't it just takes away the
50:31[Music]
50:32whole Enigma and the whole mystery and
50:35the whole it just destroys the moment
50:37for me personally you know when you take
50:39a picture you can't see what you've got
50:41and so you just move on to the next one
50:43and you don't really think about it
50:44anymore but if you have an
50:46image you can see it and then you start
50:48toying you start editing self-editing
50:50and and it and you're losing the moment
50:53you're in that amazing place you know
50:55and
50:57and you you keep your pictures as film
51:00and as prints until you've actually
51:02chosen the pictures that you want to use
51:03don't you yeah yeah then they're
51:05digitized at that point you know so I've
51:07got the uh I've got the kind of the the
51:10images themselves and then they're
51:13digitized and there there's a digital
51:15process to my prints you know they they
51:18they put into a computer at that point
51:20so so I think you know the step for me
51:23and it's just something that's hitting
51:24me more and I suppose being asked by
51:26Apple to do this uh
51:29it's it's kind of coming in a way that
51:31I'm I'm opening I'm opening myself a bit
51:34more to it now and um you know I'm a bit
51:37of a Dying Breed I'm a dinosaur I'm a
51:39fossil I'm a whatever you know very few
51:41people just cannot be bothered with film
51:43anymore and and you know they get dust
51:46on the necks you know when you have them
51:47scanned you have to pay they're very
51:49expensive to have scanned you know they
51:51take a long time to clean particularly
51:53having big blowup images you know
51:54there's a lot of work to be done on
51:57every image every file has to be I'm
51:59even talking the language now I'm
52:01talking about files and yeah just wait
52:04till you get into your color
52:06balance but now I I kind of uh it's
52:09coming to me now though that you know
52:11and I'm I'm going to say I'm in the
52:13Apple Store here right and I just know
52:17they work and everybody that people have
52:19got down whenn that I may be getting one
52:22at some point in the future you know and
52:25they're all going you're going to love
52:26love it you're going to love it you're
52:28going to love it and I'm being to open
52:30to it now you know and why not
52:34I I don't know I'm I'm you see me
52:38actually sinking into this though I but
52:40I'll still work with film as long as
52:42they keep on producing film I'll keep on
52:45working with film you know and I might
52:46do a projects of digital camera if I can
52:49be B I'd rather try and land a space sh
52:52or and learn how to you know all these
52:54buts
52:56too too much going on man you know and I
52:59just love the old fashioned cameras and
53:02and it's funny like my experience in
53:04America it was they just loved it over
53:06there I mean I'm talking to some really
53:08good galleries there now and there's
53:09some quite big people in interest in me
53:12it's weird and they love the fact that
53:14I'm using film and they they so there is
53:17that kind of thing it's bit like the
53:18vinyl and CD argument you know isn't it
53:21I suppose you know and I've never really
53:24been able to put my finger maybe you can
53:25help with this but I I've never put my
53:27finger on what the difference is but you
53:29know when people listen to an album
53:32vinyl they just say it's warmer it's got
53:35this warmth to it and you know the
53:37binary thing is just Z one zero yeah
53:41it's not been cleaned up too much yeah
53:42yeah and it's got this it's got this
53:45yeah yeah sort of a little bit the clu
53:47and or whatever I don't know it's sort
53:49of so I stick with it for that reason
53:52but of course like I say it does become
53:55you know I can do photo graphic print
53:57still and traditional sense but I do
53:59love the kind of prints I do they're
54:01they're the best at money can buy in my
54:03opinion they're not cheap but they
54:06they've got amazing longevity they you
54:09know you know I don't know David hotney
54:11uses them Tracy in and uses them myel
54:15sells her stuff and uh you know so all
54:18the top artists are using she played now
54:20and it's just a it's you just know that
54:22when you give some when somebody buys it
54:23you can save them that ain't going to
54:25fade unless they put it in broke
54:26sunlight for for two years in a row you
54:29know but it's going to last a long time
54:31and there's no acids in the paper I'm
54:34getting into all the technical stuff
54:35about printing now but that's another
54:38story but and I don't even know what I'm
54:40talking about but you know
54:41it's I don't know there's still for me a
54:44place for for the analog you know and uh
54:48so you know I'm would you encourage
54:50other people who like using film to
54:52stick with it and I'd like everyone I'd
54:55like everyone to go back to film so that
54:57the film price goes down I studied
55:00economics you know what I mean or to a
55:02level at least and and I know the basic
55:04principles so no that's the reason it's
55:06purely SL supply and demand I mean
55:07nobody's using it anymore so it's
55:09becoming a very specialized thing you
55:12know so um you know it's becoming a bit
55:15of a chat show you Michael Perkinson I'm
55:18not got any really clever questions
55:20maybe we should ask the audience if
55:21they' going yeah that's that's the point
55:23actually is
55:24anybody want to know
55:28[Applause]
55:30[Music]
55:38right uh about the yes about how much
55:41film I get through and how much it's
55:42discard it's no it depends I mean
55:44basically you know I as I said I'm
55:46totally reli my camera is so reliable I
55:50there's always a Perfect Exposure pretty
55:52much every time so not a lot gets
55:54discarded I mean there's something
55:56pictures that don't make the grades and
55:58don't I go into my reject box uh but
56:01then very often I go back through my
56:03reject box and I think i' really like
56:05that now and I pull it back out and put
56:07it on my website or whatever and uh you
56:10know so there is an element of wastage
56:12but you know if you if you can get sort
56:14of I
56:15suppose you know if you look at at
56:17getting 30% where you're really happy
56:20with what you've got then it's a winner
56:22you know so even if a film costs 15
56:24quids you get even if you just got one
56:26image and it's a winner you know you can
56:29maybe put that in your calendar or you
56:32people will buy prints or you can exib
56:34it or whatever then then you're it's the
56:36way I look at it you're on a winner
56:39so do you think you worry about using a
56:42digital camera in case you delete those
56:44frames while you're in the sub it would
56:47be one of yeah yeah it would be it's
56:49just as I say it's just the mediacy it's
56:53it's it's too much you know to I see
56:55people do doing it all the time they
56:57take with digital cameras they they're
56:59taking a picture and they're in a moment
57:01and they spend half the day you know I
57:04was at a wedding your wedding recently
57:07and and people are taking pictures and
57:09then they're looking at them for
57:10absolutely ages and sort of maybe
57:12editing I don't know but then the
57:14wedding is going on and they're missing
57:16all of that with have a I suppose with a
57:19an analog camera film camera you're
57:21taking it and you're just moving on to
57:22the next image so you're always in the
57:24moment I just think you're sort of you
57:26you drawn out I I know I'd be shut down
57:30over these things but it's just it just
57:32works for me personally and the some the
57:35Simplicity and the Enigma you know what
57:38is you know you know you've got I've got
57:40a I've got a film in my camera now it's
57:42not quite finished the 36 I'm I'm on
57:45number 27 or 28 so and I cannot wait to
57:50see what I've got I mean I know I've got
57:51some good stuff and um it's there and
57:54it's this magical thing that it's lateer
57:56it's just it's not yet an image but it's
57:58there it is it's a lat image and then
58:00and then there'll be chemicals
58:03unfortunately but and then it come alive
58:05and it become something else and there's
58:07something very beautiful about this I
58:09can't believe this water is just not
58:10sunk into the
58:12C you were just over
58:15excited it was a bit of a moment that
58:17wasn't it anyway yeah I don't I I don't
58:20know wants to have anything else no I
58:22don't think so just I don't know if the
58:23audience I see a few sleeping BS coming
58:25out now you
58:28know I just wanted to ask what camera
58:31you use and what films you use you
58:33mentioned FG
58:36right okay I wanted to ask what camera
58:40you use and don't know you it was bit
58:43late and um what film you use you
58:46mentioned Fuji is it only Fuji and what
58:49my camera is the it's a Canon A1 I've
58:52got sort of several Cannon bodies and
58:54noral lens is a Canon lens is but
58:56they're all 55 mil you know like
58:591.4 and uh the the food I just use all
59:03the Fuji films you know the CIA and
59:05Belia you know whatever was on offer I
59:08used to just buy the up Lock Stock and
59:09Barrel you know my man he was like an
59:11oldfashioned man you know you know this
59:13you know the the two Runnings when he
59:14goes comes in he goes four candles you
59:17know that four candles it's a bit like
59:20that it's a really old it used to be an
59:21oldfashioned shop with old wooden and it
59:24was just smell old and he was old and he
59:27just used to do me these deals and it
59:29was whatever he had I just I just took
59:31them I wasn't I'm not a technician I I
59:33it's a means to an end to me I know that
59:35they're good films I know they always
59:37produce what I want them to produce and
59:40so it's not a massive issue to me I mean
59:42i' I've done some talks before not a lot
59:46but I you know I've talked to
59:47photographers and they want to talk
59:49about equipment and fil and the
59:51technical side of things and it's just
59:53not it's just a means to an end to me
59:55for me me to get my final image you know
59:58that's that's all I want to do you know
1:00:00so I but basically that's that's my
1:00:02camera and it's it's it's an amazing
1:00:04camera the A1 it's it's it was one of
1:00:07the best selling cameras ever in the
1:00:09past you know I'm sure in my age here
1:00:12you know I mean okay I hit my footage
1:00:14recently
1:00:16and noie doie and uh you know I I got it
1:00:20I think I got it in
1:00:2281 uh I think it was 8 or late 70s in
1:00:25you know and and it's just lasted it's
1:00:27just they recently you had to have the
1:00:29you know the kind of um stuff that stops
1:00:33the light creeping in you know the foam
1:00:35stuff recently had to be replaced but I
1:00:37I how to do that before I die you know
1:00:40I'll be in a coffin or Flo I'll be in a
1:00:43coffin or floating to the bottom of the
1:00:45ocean or whatever happens to me falling
1:00:47off a rock properly and breaking my neck
1:00:50and I'll never have to do that again
1:00:51ever so it's it's it's a camera that's
1:00:53lasting a lifetime but you know these
1:00:55are classic cameras and you know if
1:00:57anyone's interested in going back to
1:00:58that style of doing things I mean
1:01:00there's loads of them going now
1:01:01everyone's getting rid of them they're
1:01:02giving them away way it's amazing
1:01:04beautiful cameras I mean you know even
1:01:06the medium format cameras you chips
1:01:09cheapest chips you know so I do
1:01:13encourage people to go back to film I I
1:01:16you know wa remember we doing
1:01:18encouraging everyone to go digital
1:01:19remember we're in the Apple Store I no
1:01:22but that's that's a different thing I
1:01:23mean the
1:01:26I'm you know I'm really
1:01:28seriously want one of these things now
1:01:31these Apple I don't even know the names
1:01:33of them but I i' I've seen people using
1:01:35and I'm getting more and more drawn into
1:01:37it I think they're they're lovely
1:01:39products and um the you know and I'm not
1:01:42that kind of person I don't buy products
1:01:45I don't you know I have what I've got
1:01:46and but it's it's I'm very tempted now
1:01:49I'm I'm um so where's the Apple camera
1:01:53who's in charge give me one your
1:01:56computers I will advertise it no no I
1:01:59just I'm looking forward to maybe
1:02:01beginning to experiment and maybe it'll
1:02:03drive me to do you know I want to keep
1:02:05on doing my my Scottish naturesque thing
1:02:08but maybe it'll encourage me to to to do
1:02:11you know go down some other avenues and
1:02:14and you know it's just a personal
1:02:16Journey you know like uh that's I'm I'm
1:02:18going to turn into Bill Hicks in a
1:02:20moment I know what I feel like feel it
1:02:22coming
1:02:23on um so yeah that's that's that's where
1:02:27we're at with all of that is does
1:02:28anybody else want to go to the C I got a
1:02:32question for you one of the reasons we
1:02:34here was to
1:02:36understand Apple products in the analog
1:02:39process and you haven't mentioned that
1:02:41at all say you like the idea of buyu but
1:02:49IDE analog photography products to help
1:02:54that has a dimension
1:02:58I think that that's just you know
1:03:00obviously the talk has been sort of
1:03:01think about Simon's images as well but
1:03:03you know analog photography um has as
1:03:07much of a place as digital photography
1:03:09does still now it's just about how you
1:03:11convert it to the format that everyone
1:03:13is using now so it's to sort of
1:03:15encourage people to realize that you
1:03:17know you don't have to stop using film
1:03:19or anything it's just about the showcase
1:03:22at the end and how you want them to be
1:03:24perceived um you know Simon's images
1:03:28blew me away when I first saw them as
1:03:30large scale Prints but I realized that
1:03:33you know we're not going to publish them
1:03:34in a newspaper or online on any website
1:03:37as a print you know it's always going to
1:03:39be a digital format file so it's just to
1:03:42encourage people to realize that
1:03:44anything that they shoot with film is
1:03:46just as
1:03:47relevant these days I'm not
1:03:50interest you're more interested in the
1:03:52workflow itself or
1:03:56it's not s particular um wonderful as
1:03:59they are the point is um app products in
1:04:04the production process yeah you haven't
1:04:06mention that you're talking about analog
1:04:10is scan okay where we going Apple
1:04:13prodcts what prodcts are you using
1:04:17what we're talking about Apple products
1:04:19and we were invited by Apple because
1:04:21it's the display and Apple display a lot
1:04:24better in my my opinion than other
1:04:27computer systems the colors are more
1:04:30Vivid and the the user interface is much
1:04:32easier to use talking about screens
1:04:35screens yeah yeah um I mean whether it's
1:04:38an iPad or a or a Macbook or or or even
1:04:42an iMac you know it's about showcasing
1:04:45the images and Simon's pictures are so
1:04:47full of natural color and as he said
1:04:49already to is he doesn't use Photoshop
1:04:51on them and so you want something which
1:04:53is going to Showcase that work to the
1:04:55best of its ities without the
1:04:56manipulation which is so prevalent in
1:04:59photography
1:05:02today Photoshop what you
1:05:05use scan going to use Photoshop you
1:05:08going to use something to balance
1:05:12them color balance color balance so
1:05:14that's pH I you may try
1:05:18topar but you know is that's it yeah
1:05:22yeah you know it's it's the the the
1:05:24least possible number of steps yeah shop
1:05:27isn't an Apple
1:05:28product no it's not an Apple
1:05:31product but you know that the apple
1:05:34apple come into it as the the end
1:05:37Showcase of the
1:05:39products as opposed to the I mean you
1:05:42know it doesn't have to be Photoshop
1:05:43that you use it's Simon's scanner
1:05:46happens to use Photoshop but it's you
1:05:49you can use I just as easily it's about
1:05:51getting the balance right and choosing
1:05:53what's right for you and you know we're
1:05:55saying we we've been invited by Apple
1:05:57because in our opinion they showcase the
1:05:59pictures to the best ability and you get
1:06:02the best color resolution from them well
1:06:05the Showcase really print isn't it it's
1:06:07not really un well the original product
1:06:11for Simon is the print but these days
1:06:13he's needing to go around to sell his
1:06:16work to people who he's not in the same
1:06:18geographical location as and he's not in
1:06:21you know he can't go in and carry his
1:06:23portfolio everywhere everywhere he goes
1:06:25so it's about having the best product to
1:06:27Showcase it to people I think when you
1:06:29were in New York recently one of your
1:06:32contacts was asking for an embedded PDF
1:06:35yeah yeah yeah so that he could view it
1:06:37on his iPad it's about creating that
1:06:40that's what they were using you know so
1:06:42you know again I'm sorry I'm I'm quite
1:06:44naive about these things that's why I
1:06:46ask Alex to come
1:06:47along but I from what I've seen so far
1:06:51and you know knowing my work in print
1:06:54form um and from what I've seen you know
1:06:57the apples that I've used so far it's it
1:07:00is the one that's going to work for me I
1:07:02think you know and I don't know why it's
1:07:05working for me I have no idea but it
1:07:07just seems that that's the case and I've
1:07:09I've Lo I've been on other computers and
1:07:11apple seems to be the one that's closest
1:07:15to what I want from it you know so I
1:07:17don't know if that answers your your
1:07:19question I just thought I was missing
1:07:21something you know always something
1:07:24missing I mean
1:07:27I've comps
1:07:34and which
1:07:35is
1:07:38and you know I just thought there
1:07:40something something in the process
1:07:43here I don't know about no it's just the
1:07:47the Simplicity of the user interface
1:07:49user interface you know Simon as he's
1:07:52confessed is a bit of a ly when it comes
1:07:54to computers and it's the easiest format
1:07:56for for photographers and and
1:07:59videographers to get their work onto
1:08:03computer SCS and let it be seen by the
1:08:04world and you know Simon's coming from
1:08:06the point of view that he's creating
1:08:07these images in the first instance on
1:08:10his film and it's getting that to you to
1:08:13his end user and to the people who who
1:08:16who he wants to showcase the images too
1:08:18so you know whether you use the lacing
1:08:19screen or or or the Mac screen you know
1:08:22it's the Mac that you use to help your
1:08:24work for
1:08:44no more just the work just the workflow
1:08:47and and the ease of use of it even for
1:08:50the
1:08:51monsters man
1:08:56does that help
1:09:02I yeah it's
1:09:04not it's not something I don't there
1:09:06isn't something I no there's no there's
1:09:09no magic that there's no there's no
1:09:11piece of yeah yeah it's just the magic
1:09:15of of Simon's work and showcasing it to
1:09:17the best abilities
1:09:27okay ladies and Gentlemen please put
1:09:29your hands together one more time for S
1:09:31Clos thank
1:09:33[Music]
1:09:36you for thank you

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